A new concept of slope stability design

For fifteen years, the author has been developing and investigating the theoretical framework for the slope stability estimation. This framework today is a well-knit theory of slope design in arbitrary geological and geotechnical conditions: uniform, nonuniform, or anisotropic slopes; slopes of external and internal waste dumps arranged on unstable bottoms and interfaces; slopes subjected to loading generated by mining machines and by blasting; dump slopes with pore pressure at bottoms, etc. As any other theory, the slope stability design experiences continuous development. This article describes all aspects and features of the proposed slope stability design theory, and totals all the pluses. A lot of new results obtained in extending the theory to slope stability estimate on weak interfaces (contact landslide) and on unstable basis (bottom landslides) are presented and explained. It is shown how the theory, owing to mathematical rigor and soundness, has revealed new and previously unknown patterns of formation of sliding surfaces in rock mass in mechanics. That is, the theory allows substantiating new mechanisms of slope instability (new designs), which can provide both new basic knowledge on slope failure and practical data on values of limit slope parameters in different geological conditions.

Zhabko A. V. A new concept of slope stability design. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2022;(10):104-124. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2022_10_0_104.

A.V. Zhabko, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, Head of Chair, Ural State Mining University, 620144, Ekaterinburg, Russia, e-mail: zhabkoav@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3081-9522.

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